Rock and a Hard Place
by Shannon Michelle
Summary: L/L, R/J--Lorelai is back together with Max, and Luke isn’t happy. Rory is forced into another car ride with Jess. (i just tweaked chapter 6 based on the first few reviews. Hope Max is less sinister-seeming now)
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: I wish I did, but I don't. Don't sue me please. It wouldn't do you any good. I own a gel pen and a box of poptarts. And the poptarts are stale.

Distribution: Just let me know first. Shan21@twcny.rr.com

Rating: Just PG for now. Maybe PG-13 later

Summary: Set a few months after Take the Deviled Eggs. Lorelai is back together with Max, and Luke isn't happy. Rory is forced into another car ride with Jess, and he makes her ask herself what she really wants.

Lorelai took her first opportunity to escape from work. She ran to Luke's Diner and collapsed into a seat. Work had been hectic. There was a big retirement party planned for that evening, and this was no small deal. The man being honored had not missed a single day of work in his 25 years with his company, and to show their appreciation, the employers were holding what Lorelai considered to be the most ridiculously elaborate and large retirement party in the history of man. 

She ordered her coffee, chose a spot on the wall to focus on, and let her mind drift. A little while later, a voice jolted her out of her daze.

"Lorelai."

"Max?" Lorelai looked up at him in surprise. She wasn't expecting him today. Especially not in Luke's diner. She had told very few people that they were back together. It was safer that way, she thought. They had agreed to keep things subtle and simple this time.

"Sookie said I could find you here," he said, smiling.

"You came to see me at work?" Lorelai asked, eyes nervously darting around the room searching for a hint of plaid.

"Well, I had to find you and tell you right away."

"Tell me what?"

"I just found out that Rory is under very close consideration for the top scholarship at Chilton. It's extremely difficult to get, and extremely rewarding."

"Oh my god, really?" Lorelai asked excitedly.

"Now nothings for certain yet, but it's looking good. I just wanted to share the news. And see you of course." He smiled again. Lorelai smiled back at him. They looked into each other's eyes and couldn't stop smiling.

Luke thought he might be sick.

"Max." he said gruffly.

"Oh, Luke. I didn't see you there. Nice to see you again," Max said politely, but clearly he was not happy to see Luke at all.

Luke just glared at Lorelai until she cleared her throat and turned back to Max.

"Well thanks for the message Max. This is really exciting for me, and I can't wait to tell Rory."

Max looked at Luke's angry expression and his own soured.

"Yes well, I guess I'll just be going now."

"Yeah, why don't you do that," Luke said in a hard voice.

"Okay Max. See ya."

"Bye." He bent down and kissed her on the cheek before leaving. Lorelai pretended to be very busy examining her coffee cup. Luke was still staring at her. 

"Lorelai, what the hell are you doing?"

Lorelai looked up from her coffee. "Um… trying to remember the name of that last dwarf. I can always remember six. Why does that damn seventh one always escape me?"

"I mean," Luke began impatiently, "What were you doing with ihim./i 

"Happy, Dopey, Sneezy, Sleepy, Bashful, Doc… Damn!" 

Luke started to speak when Kirk approached Lorelai's table.

"Lorelai, I noticed you speaking with that Max guy, and I just want to let you know that if you two work things out, I'm still available to take pictures at the wedding."

"Kirk," Luke said in a warning tone.

"I mean," Kirk continued, oblivious, "My mother took away my camera, but I'm sure I could find a worthy replacement by the time—"

"Kirk!" Luke shouted.

"Yes?"

"Leave."

Kirk stared at Lorelai and mouthed a "We'll keep in touch." Lorelai nodded and waved goodbye to him. 

"Lorelai, what's going on with you and him?"

"Kirk?"

"Lorelai," Luke growled.

"You caught me. I've begun a dangerous liaison with Kirk. Last week he took me to dinner on his scooter, but his mom called and he had to leave early. It was hard on both of us, but he promised to contact me on the walkie talkie he gave me."

"Lorelai."

"His mom doesn't like him using the phone at night."

"Lorelai, what are you doing with Max," Luke shouted, exasperated.

Lorelai sighed in frustration. "What do you mean what am I doing with him?"

"Well, are you dating?" He forced the last word out with thinly veiled disgust.

"Yes, okay? We're seeing each other again."

"When did you start seeing him again?"

"I don't know. A week or two ago."

Luke's eyes flashed. "Well thanks for mentioning it to me."

Lorelai stared at him in disbelief.

"Uh, gee dad, next time I promise to tell you when a guy asks me out."

"It's just… why didn't you tell me?"

"It didn't come up, and you never seemed very fond of him, so I just figured you didn't need to know."

"Well I was going to find out eventually," Luke said angrily.

"Yeah well congratulations, you found me out. Are you going to ground me or something?"

"Stop it."

"You stop it."

"Okay, now I might have to ground you. You're acting like a kid."

"Me? iI'm/i acting like a kid? You're the one who's getting all worked up over this."

"It's just… Lorelai, come on. Why are you back with him?" Luke looked at her pleadingly.

"What is your problem? Ugh. We started to talk again at Rory's parent teacher night. We both said that we made some mistakes, but that we still have feelings for each other, and maybe if we took things slower this time, we could make it work."

"Lorelai, you don't love him and you never will. Why waste your time?"

"Luke, when did you become the relationship expert? If I'm not mistaken you haven't had a steady relationship since Rachael." 

"We're not talking about me."

"Yeah, well I think a change in subject is in order, so let's talk about you."

Luke stood up angrily and glared at Lorelai.

"Fine, I'll drop it. I hope your happy with him. I'm happy for you. Very happy in fact." He said through clenched teeth before he turned to leave.

"Riiiight."

"No, forget it Lorelai. I give up. I don't care. Be happy. I'm fine with it."

"So I'm guessing that you're heading back to the kitchen to do the secret lumberjack dance of joy to celebrate my getting back together with Max?"

"Well I used to do the dance in the middle of the diner, but it frightened the children and Miss Patty kept trying to pinch my ass so now I try to stay in the kitchen," Luke said, perfectly deadpan.

"Must be some dance. Poor Caesar."

Luke just grumbled and walked away. Lorelai watched him disappear into the kitchen and looked toward the door when she heard someone walk in. Rory breezed in, looking disheveled.

"Hey sunshine, what's up?"

"The price of gas. And my stress level," Rory answered.

"Oh no! Stress level growth?"

"Yup. It's up a million percent."

"Yikes. That's a lot of percents."

"Yeah I know. I just heard myself say it," Rory said with irritation.

"Okay. Sorry. I think coffee is needed."

"I'm sorry. I'm just grumpy today," Rory said apologetically.

"Aha! The seventh dwarf!"

"Huh?"

"Oh, uh, nothing. So, is this going to be a late night? Lot's of brain-hurting things to do?"

"Huge history test. The teacher just sprung it on us like, 'Oh, and I might've forgotten to mention this last week, but you have your unit test tomorrow. And haha, it counts for a quarter of your grade.'"

Lorelai made a noise of disgust. "I can't believe that! Did he actually say 'haha'?"

"Mom," Rory moaned as she sprawled out across the table.

"Sorry. This stinks big time honey. I'll help you study."

"You have to do that thing at the inn tonight."

"No I don't. It's not that important."

"Mom! Yes it is. Big important people are coming for that retirement party, and you have to be there so it runs smoothly."

"Well it doesn't start for another," she paused to look at her watch, "Ah! One hour!"

"Go ahead. I'll just start the studying here. If I'm not home when you get done, come here and look for my lifeless body, surrounded by dozens of coffee mugs and all the hair that I tore from my head."

"Lovely imagery," said Lorelai, wincing. "But I have a few minutes to help. Get your stuff out."

Rory opened her bag and began to rummage around. Her rummaging grew more frantic and culminated in a loud angry groan.

"I can't believe this! I left the stupid thing at school!"

"Left what at school?"

"All of my notes. I thought my bag felt light!"

"Okay, okay. Don't panic. I'll take you there."

"You can't! You have to be at the inn!" Rory said, now panicking. 

"I'll just call Sookie and—"

"No mom, don't worry about it. I'll page Dean. Have fun at the retirement."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. Now off with you! I'm gonna flag down Luke and order pie. It's a pie kinda day."

"I understand completely. Pie needs are not something to be ignored."

Lorelai grabbed her purse and gave Rory a kiss on the forehead before leaving the diner. Rory paged Dean and waited anxiously for him to call her. She turned on her phone the second she heard it ring.

"Dean?"

"Yeah, Rory. What's up?"

"I need you to take me to Chilton."

"What? Why?"

"I left some school stuff there and I really need it for tonight."

"Oh man Rory, I can't."

"What?!" Rory yelled, causing some of the other customers to look up.

"I'm so sorry Ror, but I have to take my sister to her Brownies meeting."

"Can't you drop her off early and take me?"

"I wish I could. My whole family is going. It's the big award ceremony, end of the year thing. She's getting badges and stuff. She would never forgive me if I missed it. I'm so sorry."

"Argh. Okay, I'll find someone else."

"Good luck. I love you."

"Love you too. Bye."

Rory turned off her phone and looked around franticly. That was when Jess walked in. It took Rory a moment to remember that Jess had a car. She went through a silent inner struggle before deciding that she had to get her notes, no matter what, and she walked up to him. 

"Jess."

"Rory. You look awful."

"You're so sweet."

"Sorry."

"Forget it. I need a favor."

"A favor? Is it a dirty favor, because I really don't think that would be fair to Dean. Poor kid seems a little more paranoid than usual these days. His hair seems extra floppy, wouldn't you agree? Or have you just not noticed?"

"Jess, shut up. I need you to drive me to Chilton. I left some stuff there and I really need it."

"You want a ride," he said in disbelief.

"Yes."

"In my car."

"Yes."

"With me."

"Yes."

"With me behind the wheel?"

"It's not like I have a choice here Jess! I need help, you're the only one who can take me right now, so please, I am asking you, give me a ride to my school."

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"Okay," Jess repeated matter-of-factly.

"Okay then."

"As great a word as 'okay' is, I'm going to have to break the pattern."

"Okay," Rory said. "Oh. I mean—"

"Should we leave right now?"

"Yes please."

"Okay," he said, smirking at her.

"Shut up."

"Okay."

She punched him lightly in the arm, glaring at him. She grabbed her bag and followed Jess out the door toward his car. This was going to be a long trip.

TBC… probably. Reviews will help me brainstorm the next chapter. It's like magic! In my head so far I see more R/J banter in the car, and some more intervention from Luke. He might just have to prove to Lorelai that Max isn't the best guy for her.


	2. Shakespeare and Strudel

Yay for reviews! See, you guys inspired me to get this chapter out quicker! Okay:

Moswen—I wasn't planning on explaining how Max and Lorelai got back together, but it's not out of the question. Maybe in a later chapter it will fit it. Thanks for the suggestion

Melia—I'm glad you're excited about the story, because I am too! And don't worry, Max won't be around for too much longer ;)

Katem, Meghan, Dodgerluv, Melissa, Jael, Briana, Shadowcat, Tara, Jewls, and my four anonymous reviewers, thank you!

A/N—I wrote this part while I was in chemistry class. I have no clue how to do percent composition now. I hope you're all happy. Heh. Just kidding. Enjoy! Next part should be up soonish.

Lorelai was having one of those "if I only had a big cream pie to throw in this person's face" moments again. She was frantically trying to get all of the last minute things ready for the most obscenely large retirement party ever thrown, and she had a creepy looking man in a dark blue suit breathing down her neck.

Okay, that sounded dirty she decided. The man was one of the company's chief advisors. He had been assigned the duty of annoying Lorelai until she cracked. At least, that's what Lorelai thought. Michel insisted that he claimed he had to oversee everything so that it went smoothly.

"So are you sure you know how to do this?" the man asked her condescendingly.

"Well sir, I *have* done a few of these before, so I'm pretty sure I can do it again," Lorelai answered impatiently.

"You're 'pretty sure' you can do it? Jesus. I told Bob we should have chosen another place. You look barely old enough to be a desk clerk here."

Lorelai's eyes flashed and she decided that leaving before she threw one of the large paper mache ducks at his head was her best option. She practically ran back into the inn and threw the kitchen doors, ignoring the creepy man's protests.

"Lorelai? What happened? Oh no, did it start raining again? The ducks will be ruined! Then there'll just be paper mush on the ground. Not duck-like at all. At least the food will be under a tent. And people always eat more when they're depressed—"

"Sookie. It's not raining."

"Oh. Good."

"But I need you to make me a very large cream pie."

"What? Why?"

"Nevermind." 

Lorelai sat down on a nearby stool and took a deep breath.

"Hey, honey are you okay?" Sookie asked, concerned.

"Oh I'm fine. Just one of those days, you know?"

"Do you think you have—"

"Don't say it."

"Ennui?"

"Stop talking to Michel so much Sookie," Lorelai said. Then she remembered Max's visit.

"Hey Sookie, you told Max to come to Luke's to find me?"

"Um, yes? Was that a bad thing?"

"Well, Luke didn't take it so well. He seemed really annoyed that we were back together."

"Of course," Sookie said smiling.

"What do you mean 'of course'" Lorelai said, imitating Sookie.

"Oh come on Lorelai. I think you know what Luke isn't Max's biggest fan."

"Because he's Luke? I mean, that whole people-hating thing really lends itself to the… hatred of people."

"It's obvious that he feels—oh no! The tarts!"

"Why is he feeling tarts? Seems like an odd hobby. But then again, he's Luke so—"

"Lorelai, I forgot the tarts!"

"The raspberry tarts?"

"Yes!"

"Okay, don't panic. I'll go get the ingredients. What do you need?"

"It's too late! Oh jeez, that creepy guy in the blue suit said it's our retiree's favorite flavor, raspberry."

"Well, maybe Luke will have something raspberry-ish already made."

"Well go! Shoo! I'll distract creepy blue guy."

Lorelai didn't need to be told twice. She was happy to escape for a few minutes. She ran off to Luke's.

"Thanks for taking me. I didn't mean to seem so ungrateful at the diner," Rory said cautiously. 

The car ride had been silent until just then. Both Rory and Jess had stared at the road straight ahead and had remained stiff and uncomfortable in their seats.

"Your welcome," Jess said.

At that moment, Rory's cell phone rang. Rory looked at Jess apologetically, and he just shrugged and gestured for her to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Rory, hi."

"Dean?"

Jess rolled his eyes and groaned.

"Who was that," Dean asked.

"Um, that was just my ride."

"Oh good! You found someone to take you."

"Yup, it wasn't too hard."

"I'm so relieved. I'm sitting here at this Brownies thing about ready to earn a badge for starting a fire."

Rory laughed. Jess' eyes narrowed.

"Well now, that wouldn't be fair to Clara, you showing her up at her own award ceremony," she said with a smile.

"Yeah. I guess you're right. Well, I'm glad you found someone to take you. Who is it?"

"Oh um, Luke. He closed the diner just so he could take me. It was really nice of him."

"He's sitting right next to you in the car now smiling isn't he, you suck up."

Rory glanced at Jess, who was glaring at her.

Rory laughed nervously. "You caught me. Okay well, you have to get back to the ceremony. What are they doing now?"

"Singing 'Kumbaya.' Isn't life wonderful?"

"Very. Just try to stay alive."

"Ah, the wise words of the Bee Gees will forever remain my life's motto."

"Glad to hear it."

Dean smiled. "Bye Ror. I love you."

"I love you too."

Rory turned her phone off and stared straight ahead at the road. It was silent for a few minutes before Jess spoke.

"So when did I turn into my uncle?"

"Jess—"

"I'm just saying, you didn't really give me any notice. I have lot's of plaid and a baseball cap to buy."

"I'm sorry, okay? But I couldn't tell him it was you. He'd freak."

Jess sighed and shifted in his seat. "Poor Desdemona," he said in a mocking tone.

"What are you talking about?"

"Desdemona was faithful, but Othello killed her on the suspicion of her infidelity."

"I know who Desdemona is," Rory snapped. "So, what are you saying? That Dean is going to strangle me in my bed?"

"I dunno. Maybe a simple beheading," he answered sarcastically.

"If I'm Desdemona, then you're Iago."

"How so?"

"Iago loved to toy with other peoples' emotions. He loved to see Othello in anguish. And he didn't care about anyone, especially the woman he was with."

"Who said I don't like who I'm with?"

"Jess, did you even get her name before your tongue became thoroughly acquainted with her esophagus?"

"Jealous?" he said, smirking.

Rory sighed in frustration.

"You know," Jess began, "On second thought, you're not Desdemona."

"No?"

"No. Desdemona was innocent of any betrayal. She never even thought about another man, let alone kissed one." He looked pointedly at her. Rory shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

"So what, now I'm Hester Prynne?"

"I didn't say that you're a scarlet woman. Which is a good thing, because red isn't your color, is it?" he said, noticing how red her face had gotten.

Rory felt her burning cheeks. Why did she have to blush? Didn't her cheeks know that Jess would capitalize on that? Stupid cheeks.

"Okay," Rory said abruptly. "I'm done describing you with literary illusions."

"I'm just indescribable, huh?" Jess asked.

"Whatever."

"So do you do this a lot with Dean?"

"What?"

"The literary illusion thing. Does he add in his two cents about Madame Bovary or Hamlet? Or do you play it safe and stick to sports figures and cartoon characters?"

"Jess, shut up."  


"I'm just saying—"

"God! I shouldn't have even asked you to take me."

"Wow. Keep those compliments coming," Jess said, actually looking hurt.

Rory sighed. "Come on Jess. Just quit putting Dean down. Why do you always have to do that?"

Jess turned to look at her. She looked sincere. She really wanted to know.

"Maybe it's because I think there's someone better out there for you."

"I don't need someone better. Dean is great," Rory stated emphatically.

"Sure. Great."

"Well how would you even know?" Rory snapped back.

"Because I'm seen the way you act around him, and I know he doesn't do it for you anymore."

"You don't know what you're talking about."

They had entered the Chilton parking lot and Jess slowly parked his car before continuing.

"Rory, he doesn't make you feel excited or complete or… he doesn't make you feel…"

"What Jess?" Rory shouted. "Apparently you're the expert! What doesn't Dean make me feel?"

Jess looked at her intently.

"He doesn't make you feel this."

And with that, he leaned in close to Rory. Her heart was pounding and she froze. She felt dizzy all of a sudden. She could feel his breath on her neck. He brushed his cheek against hers and his lips grazed her neck. His hand touched her knee.

And then he pulled away.

Rory sat there, trying to compose herself.

"We're here. You should get your stuff," Jess said without a hint of a smirk on his face.

Rory unbuckled her seat belt and walked briskly away from the car. She tried not to think about the fact that she had an entire car ride home with Jess ahead of her.

"Lorelai?" Luke said as she rushed into the diner. "Is something wrong?"

"Raspberries!"

"Are red in color." Luke finished for her.

"No, I need something raspberry flavored. Do you have anything? Tarts, cookies, coffee?"

"Coffee?"

"Sorry, the coffee part just slipped out."

"Okay, let me check. I think I might have some strudel in the back."

"Strudel! Yes, strudel is good. Anything to keep the creepy blue man at bay."

Luke looked at her questioningly.

"You don't want to know. Now go, you are on a mission here. Strudel search!"

"Fine. Help yourself to some coffee. You look like you need it."

"Hmm… I'm not sure whether I should thank you sincerely for the coffee, or sarcastically for implying that I look bad."

"Lorelai, take the coffee. Don't distract me from the all-important strudel search."

"Ah yes. Search away."

Lorelai poured herself a cup of coffee and ran her hand through her hair nervously. Luke seemed to be back to his normal self. Maybe he would just forget about the Max thing.

"Hey, why isn't Max with you?" Luke called from the back.

Damn. 

"Ha ha. And Bitter Luke makes his triumphant return."

Luke returned to the counter with a large quantity of strudel.

"I just figured that he'd be with you, seeing as how you two are so inseparable these days."

"Luke, quit it. Thank you for the strudel. I have to get back to the inn now."

"Wait, I'll help you carry it back."

Lorelai looked at him gratefully. The prospect of balancing three large pastry boxes in her arms and then walking several blocks in the still puddle-filled streets wasn't exactly making her overjoyed.

"Oh shoot."

"What?" Lorelai asked.

"I can't."

"Can't what? Don't bail on me now strudel boy."

"Sorry Lorelai, Caesar's not here and Jess is out helping Rory. I can't leave the diner."

"Wait, what do you mean Jess is helping Rory?"

"He gave her a ride to Chilton so she could get a book or something."

"He what?!"

TBC… reviews help the process go faster! I already have part of chapter 3 written. There might be some very fun R/J parts. And by fun I mean *raised eyebrows, wink wink* fun. And of course, Luke and Lorelai will fight and make up and fight and make up and fight and…..

But give me suggestions, because I try to listen. I thought the whole 'rory and jess being quiet in the beginning' was good. Thanks!


	3. Chicken Run

Did I mention that I love reviews?

Christine: More banter coming your way :)

Dodgerluv: You thought that scene was steamy? You ain't seen nothing yet. Read on :)

Nik: Thank you so much for commenting on the dialogue! That's what I work the hardest on to try to get things to seem realistic.

Ggirl: I plan on continuing for several more chapters :) Thanks for the encouragement!

Elizabeth: Thank you! I love the writing style on GG. I've started to talk like Lorelai, much to my father's chagrin 

Singcraz: LOL! Was this quick enough for you? It's nice to feel wanted. Thanks ;)

Anonymous person: Thanks! All capitals and everything!

Anonymousthinker: Here's your winking and nudging ;) 

Trace: Thank ya! Rory/Jess dialogue is fun to write :)

M: Ahhhh! I did! Thanks :)

Swim6516: All I can say is thank you ;)

Rgilmore03: Wow, thanks! Personally I like the L/L parts better, but I got you covered :)

Tara: The dying is a good thing, right ;) Glad you liked it.

Holly: Oh my God woman! Thank you so much! I couldn't ask for a better reviewer!

Night Angel: lol! HERE IT IS!!

Jewls13: Glad it got the heart pounding! And you're right. I'm going to have to get the notes from a friend, because I am *so* lost now. And Israel eh? I was supposed to go to Israel too! Are you Jewish? I am, and my synagogue sponsored the trip.

And sorry to angellove who I forgot to thank in the last chapter. You were my very first reviewer! Thankee!

Wow. That was a whole bunch of smiley faces. What can I say, you guys make me smile!

A/N: I think all you R/J fans will like this chapter. I personally like Dean, but I do see how Jess and Rory is more exciting than R/D. There's still some L/L stuff, but nothing too drastic yet. Wait for the chapter after next ;) And I tried to change the rating to PG-13, but I don't know if it worked.

"What?! My daughter is in a car with Jess right now?"

'No way would Rory just hop back into a car with Jess,' Lorelai thought to herself. More like hoped to herself. She knew Luke wouldn't make this up.

"I assumed that she told you."

"Well you assumed wrong mister!"

"Lorelai, I'm sure they're fine."

Lorelai looked angrily up at Luke.

  
"Just like how they were fine last time?"

"Don't bring this up again. Come on, calm down," Luke said, resting his hands on her shoulders.

Lorelai shrugged his hand off and began to rummage through her purse.

"What are you doing," Luke asked.

"Looking for my phone. I have to talk to Rory."

"Lorelai," Luke began. "They'll be fine. You know as well as I do that the accident wasn't preventable. Jess is a good driver. He's just taking her to Chilton and back."

Luke pushed Lorelai's hands away from her purse and snatched it away from her. He moved it behind the counter.

"Give me back my purse Luke. Rory isn't your daughter, she's mine."

"And I think of her like a daughter. You know that. I wouldn't be so calm if I thought she was in any danger."

Lorelai glared at him. He put his hand on her shoulder again.

"Come on Lorelai, they'll be fine. I think they're friends again."

"You don't devil-egg a friend's car," Lorelai muttered, but she didn't shrug off Luke's hand again.

  
"That was you?"

Lorelai's eyes widened. "Um… no?"

Luke stared at her.

"I have an alibi!" Lorelai shouted.

"And who can give me that alibi?"

"Rory!"

Luke laughed. "Oh my God, I can't believe it was you... Actually, I can."

"Well I had anger issues."

"Apparently so. Did you actually manage to cook those eggs yourself?"

"What? Are you insane?"

"Says the woman who devil-egged a boy's car."

"Oh yeah. But no, I did not prepare the eggs myself. A pregnant woman who needs her medicine cabinet destroyed made them."

"What?"

"Nevermind. Can I have my purse back?"

"Are you going to call Rory and freak out?"

Lorelai sighed. "No. But so help me God, if she comes home with so much as a papercut—"

Luke handed her the purse. "Don't worry, if he hurts her, I'll kill him."

"Oh come on, as the mother of the injured child, I should get first dibs in the killing."

"We'll share," Luke said, smiling.

"Okay." Lorelai started to gather up the boxes of strudel.

"Wait, I'll help you afterall."

"But the diner—"

"I'll just close up for a few minutes. It's not a big deal."

"Are you sure?" Lorelai asked, a little surprised.

"I'm sure."

"Okay, thanks." Lorelai smiled at Luke and they gathered up the strudel.

Rory was still walking quickly. She hadn't broken her pace since running out of Jess' car. She didn't know how she was going to sit in that car with him again. She grabbed her notes out of her locker, which took her three tries to open ('Stupid combination lock!') and started to return to the parking lot. Rory was so distracted that she didn't see the another person coming in the opposite direction before they crashed into each other.

"Ah! Jeez, I'm sorry," Rory said, looking up. "Max?"

"Oh, Rory hi! What are you doing here?" Max said, brushing himself off.

"I left my history notes here," she said, holding her binder up for him to see. "Are you okay?"

"Oh, I'm fine. What's a concussion really?"

"Sorry!"

"Rory, I'm kidding," he said, smiling. "So did your mom tell you the big news?"

A look of confusion came over Rory's face. "Um… no."

"That's weird. She seemed so excited about it."

"What is it?" Rory asked.

"Well, you're under very close consideration for the top Chilton scholarship."

"Oh my God! Really?!" Rory squealed.

Max laughed. "Well, nothing is definite yet, but it's looking pretty good for you Rory."

"Wow, this is so great!"

"Yeah, that's sort of why I'm surprised your mom forgot to mention it." 

Max looked somewhat upset.

"Oh, don't worry about it. I came home and I was all 'ack!' because I forgot my stuff. My bad mood probably made her forget."

"Sure," Max said distractedly.

"Okay, well I'm going to head back home."

"What? Oh, okay. Bye."

"Bye Max."

Rory walked away and took out her cell phone, dialing quickly.

Lorelai's cell phone began to ring. Lorelai froze. She had pastries in her arms and couldn't reach her phone.

"Here, hand them over," Luke said.

Lorelai piled her boxes on top of Lukes and flipped open her cell phone.

"Hello?"

"Mom!"

"Rory! Are you okay?! Oh my God, what happened?"

"What? I'm fine? Why would you ask that?"

"Oh I don't know, maybe because I know who your driver is."

Rory winced. "Oh."

"Hey, it's fine," Lorelai lied. "What's up?"

"Well, I ran into Max, and he told me."

"Told you what?… oh! Oh honey, I totally forgot to tell you!"

"It's okay. This is so exciting!"

"I know!"

"Okay, we'll talk later. I just wanted to tell you that I found out."

"Okay hun."

Both girls hung up. Luke raised an eyebrow. 

"Um, a little help here?" He looked like he was about to tip over. 

"Oh! Sorry!" Lorelai took back her boxes and they continued walking.

"So what did Rory have to say."

Lorelai began telling Luke about the scholarship.

"Oh, so that's what Max was telling you in the diner today."

"Yup. What did you think he was telling me?"

"I don't know. You looked really excited. I thought maybe you were planning another engagement or something."

Lorelai looked back up at Luke.

"You're kidding."

"Hey, I didn't exactly find out right away last time you know."

  
"You sound like my mother."

"Thanks."

"Forget it."

Lorelai thought back to what Sookie was saying earlier.

"Why do you care so much about my romantic life anyway?"

Luke stopped walking. He looked at her, which was hard because her face was nearly hidden behind the pile of pastry boxes. His eyes softened and he started to speak, flustered.

"I… I just… Lorelai, it's… You know what? I said 'forget it' so why don't you just forget it?"

"Fine," Lorelai snapped back at him.

They continued to walk in silence.

Jess was surprised when he saw Rory coming out of the school. She looked really happy. His heart jumped a little. Maybe she was thinking about him and the almost-kiss. Maybe?

Rory opened the passenger side door and hopped into the car.

"Guess what?"

"What?"

"I might get a great big scholarship!"

"Oh. Great." Jess said with a touch of disappointment in his voice.

"Wow. You sound so excited for me," Rory said sarcastically.

"No, I mean it. That's great."

"You could get scholarships too, you know. You just need to apply yourself."

"Yeah, but where's the fun in that?" Jess asked, smiling at her.

  
Rory rolled her eyes. Jess pulled out of the parking lot and started off to Stars Hollow.

~~A little while later~~~

"Traffic." Jess said. "When is there ever traffic going *into* Stars Hollow?"

"Um… when there's an absurdly large retirement party being held at the Independence Inn?" Rory said.

"Lovely. Well, we're still a little ways away from town, and it looks like there could be a fifteen or twenty minute wait. Might as well just stop the car." He pulled the key out of the ignition.

"Now there's no radio," Rory said, pouting.

"Hey, gas is expensive," Jess stated matter-of-factly. 

"Fine."

"You might as well start studying now. I can help. What's the subject?"

"History," Rory said glumly.

"European?"

  
"American. Specifically on federalism and all of its components: types of grants, Supreme Court cases, the works."

"Sounds like a whole lot of fun," Jess said dryly.

"Here, you can start by quizzing me on the grants, and then we can worry about delegated versus residual powers."

Jess sighed and took the paper Rory was holding out to him. He started the quizzing.

It had only been ten minutes and they were already fighting, albeit not seriously.

"You're crazy!" Rory giggled.

"Oh am I?"

"Yes! Schecter Poultry versus the U.S. is *not* the most important Supreme Court case in American history, Jess. It's nicknamed 'The Sick Chicken Case.'"

"Well I bet the chickens appreciated that case," Jess said, mock-offended. "Especially the sick ones."

"The chickens were already dead, Jess. The objection was to the sanitary conditions of their slaughter and preparation. There are other more important cases that served to make the same point about federal jurisdiction."

"I think you owe the chickens an apology. You're belittling their problems."

"Shut up," Rory said, smiling.

"Insulting poultry is just cruel. I think you need to pay," he said dangerously.

Before she could react, Jess snatched Rory's notebook and held it out of the open car window.

"Jess! Don't drop that! It was raining earlier and it's still wet outside. My notes will be ruined," Rory pleaded.

"Maybe you should have thought about that earlier. The chickens are upset."

He allowed the notebook to slip further from his grasp.

"Jess!" Rory squealed.

She unbuckled herself and tried to reach over Jess' head to get the notebook, but couldn't. She settled for reaching her arms around him in an attempt to wrestle his arm away from the window.

Jess turned to face her and brought his legs up onto the seat to block her. Rory climbed on top of Jess' legs and reached for the notebook. They struggled for a few minutes, Jess' arms getting a few scratches in the process. Jess tried to lengthen himself out, bringing the notebook out of Rory's reach and causing her to slide down on him. 

Suddenly their faces were inches apart. Rory was now very aware of her position. She was lying fully on top of Jess, one of his hands tangled in her hair, the other still dangling the notebook out the window.

She started to pull away, but Jess moved his hand from her hair to her face, tracing her lips with his fingers. Rory paused. She closed her eyes for a second. She gently pushed his fingers aside and leaned in closer. She looked into his eyes and pressed her lips to his.

At first the kiss was soft, uncertain. But with the passing seconds it grew more intense to the point where Jess dropped the forgotten notebook and used both of his hands to run his fingers through Rory's hair. The kiss went on for several more minutes before—

BEEP!!

Rory's head shot up and she was brought immediately back to reality. 

"Traffic is moving," she said bluntly before pulling herself off of Jess and smoothing her shirt and hair.

Jess started to sit up and was about to put the car back in drive when Rory became panicked.

"My notebook! Where is it?!"  


Jess looked confused for a second, but then his eyes widened and he looked out the window onto the road below.

  
"Shit!"

"Oh my God!" Rory groaned, running out of the car and around to Jess' side.

"I'm so sorry," Jess said, looking at the now almost transparent papers with smeared ink peeking out from Rory's notebook.

  
The car behind them honked again.

"Get back in. I'll take you home."

Rory gathered up the remains of her notebook and stood up.

"Go ahead, I'll walk."

"What? It's an hour long walk! Just let me drive you."

The car beeped again.

  
"Just go. It'll give the pages a chance to dry."

"Rory, I'm sorry," Jess repeated, but Rory was already walking away.

The person behind Jess was not leaning on his horn.

"Okay!" Jess yelled at the man. He put the car in drive and sped away.

You like? Want more? You gotta review. It's what I thrive on. That and coffee. *runs off to get copious amounts of coffee*


	4. Quiche and Quizzes

Okay, you guys are seriously the best reviewers *ever.* I got home from a concert last night at 1:00am, and I decided that I was way too tired to write, but I checked my reviews, and I just got so happy that I wrote the whole frigging thing right then and there. Thank you!

Christine: Glad you like the banter! Sorry it took so long ;) ~!~ Christina: Thanks for the encouragement :) ~!~ Tanzy: Thank you so much for the suggestions! This chapter is dedicated to you! ~!~ Briana: How sweet of you to wish Rory well! Guess you'll have to read on to see how she does ;) ~!~ Prianka: lol, thanks for the chem lesson :) ~!~ Katem-23: Of course I'll make it up to you… maybe not in this chapter but…~!~ MahliaLily: I'm so glad that you can see the scenes in your head, because that to me is what makes a good story :) ~!~ SlayerRyoko: Mmmmm brownies! Lol, don't worry. This story is R/J, but I happen to like Dean so he's not getting shipped off to China ~!~ Kacey123: I'm glad! I really am! ;) ~!~ Meg: I know, I'm mean aren't I? Hopefully I can redeem myself a little bit in this chapter :) ~!~ jewls13: I was going to go on the same trip to Israel! Only it was canceled because of terrorism. And you must live in New York like me, because you mentioned regent exams. Don't they stink? Well anyway, I tried to bring back the tension in this chapter, so I hope you like it better than the last one :) ~!~ Night Angel: Oh no! Am I helping you procrastinate? Heh. Hope this distracts you too :) ~!~ Dodgerluv: Thanks! Hope you love this chapter too! ~!~ Anonymousthinker: Lol, yes. When it comes to avoiding Jess, Rory can be an Olympian ~!~ Faith5321: O my God, you're such a cool reviewer! ;) ~!~ Elizabeth: Woo hoo! I caused uproarious laughter! Yay! ~!~ Karen-Tenou: Lol, don't scare me like that! All I saw at first was 'that's horrible!' :) ~!~ Starbelly: Hey, do you get your name from the Dr. Seuss story? Love that one! And yay for caffeine and !s ~!~ sweetangel251: The hair *is* frightening! And I'm with you on the Dean thing. I would *love* to have a bf like him .~!~ Neurotic Coffee: Heh. I hope your okay with this chapter, because there's angst and denial aplenty ;) ~!~ Melia: Groveling and everything! Wow! I crown you queen of reviewers. And thank you for the kiss comment, because I was nervous about that scene. I never wrote a make-out scene before! ~!~ Jess: Yay! I worked really hard on the banter, so thankee :) ~!~ Tara: I'm assuming you mean Luke and Lorelai? Hang in there. Not this chapter, but soon… ~!~ Dani:Don't worry! It'll be literati, but I can't make it too easy :) ~!~ And to my four anonymous reviewers: Use your names next time so I can thank you personally! I won't bite! Too hard…

A/N: Okay, what I generally heard was that the tension from chapter 2 was preferred to the all out kissing in chapter 3, so you asked for it. And, I don't actually know if Lorelai or Rory like quiche, but it just seemed like they wouldn't, so don't kill me if I'm wrong ;) Anyway, here ya go!

Lorelai opened the door and stepped inside. She let her purse drop to the floor and moved a wet lock of hair out of her eyes.

"Rory?" she called out.

"In here," a voice answered from the kitchen.

Lorelai walked to the kitchen and saw her daughter bent over her school books, looking very stressed.

"So how goes the studying?" she asked cautiously.

Rory looked up at her mother, irritated, before noticing her appearance.

"Mom! You're soaked! I know that it rained, but wasn't there a tent at this party? And what on earth is that?" she asked pointing at the clump of mush clinging to Lorelai's dress.

"That, my dear, is the remains of a paper mache duck. And yes, there was a tent, but that doesn't really matter when the wind blows said ducks out from under the tent, and you are ordered to go chase them."

"You had to chase the ducks? What was the final outcome?"

"Ducks: fifty billion. Lorelai: zero."

"Hmmm. I guess I can cross duck-chasing off of my really long list of this I want to experience in this lifetime."

"Oh, it wasn't that bad. Michel was helping me," Lorelai said with an evil glint in her eye.

Rory stared at her mother.

"You got Michel to help you on the duck hunt?"

"Yeah, it was great," Lorelai began with a grin. "He kept screaming French curses and he professed a fear of ducks."

"Ducks *and* swans?"

"Apparently so."

"Wow. What are his thoughts on Big Bird?"

"Hmmm, he hasn't mentioned it yet, but I'll be sure to ask him next time I see him."

"Please do. Inquiring minds want to know."

"Speaking of inquiring minds," Lorelai said, taking a seat at the table. "Back to my original question of 'how goes the studying?'"

Rory groaned and laid her head down on the table in frustration.

"Hey, none of that!" Lorelai warned. "I don't want your brain oozing out onto the table. Brain is such a pain to clean."

Rory just made a muffled whining sound. Lorelai rested her hand on Rory's head and massaged her scalp for a second.

"Is that getting the brainwaves moving again?"

"I think you're just scaring them away."

Lorelai smiled. Poor kid. She worked so hard and… hey… 

"Rory, what's up with your notebook?"

"Huh?"

"It's all wet."

"I dropped it."

"Into what? The Pacific Ocean?"

"No, a puddle."

"And then what, you set up camp and watched them soak for about an hour? Rory, the pages are almost transparent. What were you doing for so long that you didn't realize that your notes were dying a horrible death?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Rory snapped. No, she definitely didn't want to reflect upon what she had been doing while her notes were soaking in that puddle.

"Okay, fine. You look like you need sleep. You almost done studying?"

"Yeah. I'm going to bed in a minute."

"Okay good. See you in the morning," Lorelai said, kissing Rory on the forehead.

"'Night."

Lorelai woke up to an unusual smell: The smell of something cooking. Alarmed and thinking that some madman had broken into her house and started using her kitchen facilities as some sort of odd pre-killing ritual, she rushed down the stairs. What she saw made her freeze in her tracks.

"Max?" she said in disbelief.

Max was standing in her kitchen, oversized chef's hat on his head, holding various kitchen utensils that Lorelai didn't even know she owned, let alone how to use.

"Lorelai," he said smiling.

"What are you doing?"

"I made you breakfast," he proudly stated.

Lorelai smiled widely. "Oh my God, you get the 'sweetest boyfriend of the year' award."

"Was there anyone else in the running," he asked, mock-jealous.

"Only Kirk," she answered jokingly.

"Really?"

"Yes, but he didn't make me breakfast. He gave me half of his Snickers bar once though."

"Damn. I guess I'll have to stay on my toes."

"Guess so. And you're doing a good job so far," Lorelai said, looking around at what was cooking.

From what Lorelai could see, there was scrambled eggs, and what looked like a pie.

"Pie for breakfast? You're the coolest boyfriend ever!"

Max laughed. "It's not pie. It's 'hearty breakfast quiche'" he said importantly.

Lorelai looked curiously at the dish. Well, it might be good. She spied numerous vegetables and other non-pancake-like items in the quiche and began to doubt that possibility.

"What's going on?" Rory called out from her bedroom.

"Max is here! He made breakfast!" Lorelai called back.

Rory stumbled out of her room in her Chilton uniform, looking very surprised.

  
"Hi," she said nervously.

"Hi Rory. I hope you like quiche."

"Um… well, I've never actually had it before, but I'm sure I'll like it."

"Well, sit down, I'll serve it all up," Max said, gesturing at the kitchen table.

The girls took their seats and watched as max served them both heaping piles of eggs and quiche, followed by coffee.

"Oh, I'll go get the paper!" Max said, running out the door hurriedly.

Lorelai and Rory looked at each other. Lorelai shrugged.

"Dig in," she said to Rory.

They both began to eat. They both cringed.

"The eggs are uh… not so fluffy," Rory said.

"Or edible," Lorelai added. "But there's still hope for the quiche!"

"Or not," Rory said spitting her bite back onto her plate. "What are these vegetables doing in here?"

"Beats me. I think it's a crazy new fad," Lorelai said, making a face.

"Well this calls for some coffee therapy," Rory said, taking a big gulp of the black liquid in front of her.

"Oh my God mom. Never let Max near our coffee maker again."

"Is it that bad?" Lorelai asked, taking a sip of her own. "Oh my God, it's that bad."

"You're the one who gave him a house key so promptly when you got back together."

"It was symbolic," Lorelai said apologetically. "And besides, this was really nice of him, agreed?"

Rory sighed. "Agreed. Does this mean we have to eat it?"

Lorelai nodded sadly. The two girls continued eating, trying to swallow without chewing to minimize the taste factor. Max reentered the house with the newspaper, looking happy as ever.

"So how is it?"

"It's wonderful," Lorelai said. "Although the coffee is a little weak."

A look of disappointment flashed over Max's features.

"You're kidding me! I added three times the amount of grounds as usual!"

Lorelai smiled at him. "Next time play it same and just dump the whole thing in."

Max smiled back. "Next time you can make the coffee and I'll drink juice."

"Good deal," Lorelai said. "Thanks again Max, this is so great."

"Yeah, thanks," Rory added.

"Rory, I can drive you to school if you'd like."

"Oh, sure. Just let me finish getting ready."

"Of course," Max said, clearly pleased with his fatherly gesture.

"Well as long as you're taking care of that, I'm going to throw on some clothes and head off to the Inn."

"Oh, okay," Max said. "See you tonight."

"Right," Lorelai said. "By the way, nice hat."

Max smiled as he watched her run back upstairs.

Lorelai burst into Luke's Diner on a mission. She breezed past Luke, who was serving some customers.

"Hey whoa there! What's going on?" he asked following her when she walked behind the counter.

"No time to talk. I need a donut and a cup of coffee stat, and I can't deal with this 'wait your turn' crap."

"Why are you so late today? And where's Rory?" he asked, handing her the tongs to pick out her donut.

"Oh, she isn't coming. Max made us breakfast."

"Max made you breakfast?"

"Yes."

"So what's with the coffee and the donut."

Lorelai was silent, intently pouring her coffee.

"Didn't he make you coffee?"

"Yes, but he didn't make it right, okay?" Lorelai answered shortly, throwing some bills on the counter. She was about to leave, but Luke was right behind her.

"It wasn't as good as mine?" He said, his mouth suddenly close to her ear. He was too close. She shivered. Luke noticed. 

"See that? That was the shakes from caffeine withdrawal. You better get out of my way," Lorelai lied.

"Sure. Withdrawal symptom."

"Yes, withdrawal symptom. Now I'd like to leave with my breakfast if you don't mind."

She started to walk away when Luke spoke.

"It's on the house."

"What?"

"Well, it doesn't seem right to charge you when you're going through those terrible withdrawal shakes," he said simply.

Lorelai looked at him. 

"What's up with you? All of a sudden you're Mr. Sly Comment Guy."

He walked closer to her and lowered his voice, still smiling.

"I'm just waiting for you to realize that Max is a mistake. This is just more proof. He can't even make you coffee."

Lorelai glared at him.

"You have problems Luke. This doesn't mean anything. So he can't make strong coffee. My dentist can, does that mean that he's my soulmate? I'm leaving," she turned to leave for a third time.

"Lorelai wait," Luke said, catching her by the arm.

"What?" she said angrily.

"You have something on your shirt. I looks like pie," he said, brushing the crumbs from her shirt.

"It's not pie. It's hearty breakfast quiche," she replied distractedly. 

"Max made you quiche?" Luke asked with a smirk.

"Yes," Lorelai growled.

"You hate quiche."

"Goodbye Luke." 

And with that she walked out of the diner. Luke just smiled as she walked away.

Rory was sure that she would die. The questions on the paper in front of her seemed to be written in a foreign language. She could get the basics, but all of the acts of the Reagan and Clinton administrations had abandoned her brain.

"Damn Jess," she muttered to herself.

"Damn me for letting him…." She couldn't finish that thought.

She groaned audibly, earning a harsh glare from the teacher. She redirected her attention to the paper in front of her.

Question 36: What was the effect of Schecter Poultry vs. U.S. on the implied powers of the federal government?

Rory didn't bother to read the choices. She skipped that question and moved on to number 37. This was not going to be a good day.

"That man drives me crazy!" Lorelai yelled to no one in particular as she entered the kitchen at the Independence Inn.

"It's rude to talk about Michel when he's right in the room," Sookie said, knowing very well who Lorelai was referring too.

"Haha, very funny. Excuse me while I go write that one down so I can use it in future situations to impress my friends," Michel sneered, leaving the kitchen.

"Not Michel. Luke," Lorelai said, ignoring Michel.

  
"I know."

"How do you know?" Lorelai asked.

"Because it's always Luke."

"Oh."

"What happened now?"

"This morning he just went on this whole big rant about how the fact that Max can't make my coffee means that we don't belong together."

"Mmmhmmm," Sookie said, grinning deviously.

"What? Why did you make that noise?"

"What noise?" Sookie said, feigning ignorance.

"That 'I know something Lorelai doesn't know because she's dense as cheesecake' noise."

"Well," Sookie began knowingly, "Come on Lorelai, he's obviously hinting at…" She trailed off.

"Hinting at what?" Lorelai asked in confusion.

"Well, he says that Max isn't the guy for you because he can't make coffee the way you like it. And who *can* make coffee the way you like it?"

"My dentist," Lorelai answered immediately.

Sookie rolled her eyes. "And who else?"

"Rory."

"Lorelai!"

"What? What are you getting at?"

"Lorelai, Luke makes your coffee."

"And…"

"Oh God, you're hopeless."

  
"What?" Lorelai whined. But Sookie had walked away to check on the soup.

It had been a long day. Rory held her coffee up to her nose and inhaled the scent.

"You are a God," she said, looking up at an unimpressed Luke.

  
"Where's you mother?" he asked bluntly.

"Out with Max."

Luke grunted and walked away. Rory was too busy drinking her coffee to notice. She had been needing this all day. Max was a nice guy, but if she had to go without her coffee another morning, she was going to steal his key when he wasn't looking. She took another sip of her coffee and began to relax. She had her coffee, she was out of school, and Dean was going to be there shortly. The day was finally looking up. 

Then she saw him. He was walking over to her. This was not what she needed right now.

"Rory, how'd your test go?" Jess asked, concern in his voice.

"Not well," she answered shortly.

"Oh. I'm sorry."

"You should be," she said angrily, knowing that she wasn't being fair. She stood up and moved towards a table next to the wall, away from him.

Jess made a noise of disbelief. He followed her and grabbed her arm before she could sit down.

"Listen, I'm sorry about your notebook, but you definitely had a part in its destruction."

"Keep it down!" Rory said, looking nervously around to make sure none of Luke's patrons was listening to their conversation.

"Oh, that's right," Jess said wryly. "Can't let anyone know about our little escapade."

"Leave me alone," Rory said, trying to pull away from him.

"You know what Rory, I'd really like to do that. I would," Jess said, not loosening his grip, "but it seems that you just can't leave *me* alone, and that's what's driving me crazy."

"Jess—"

"Rory, what's your game here? You can't have the dependable but boring boyfriend and have random make-out sessions with me whenever you feel like it, and then tell me not to tell anyone. It's unfair to both me and Dean."

"Like you even care about Dean," Rory hissed.

"And you've shown me just how much you care about him, right?" he replied, eyes flashing.

Rory looked down, ashamed.

"Rory, it's okay to lose interest in Dean. Very okay in fact. But if you do decide that he isn't for you, you've got to let him know. Just… you have to quit doing this to me," he finished tiredly.

Rory's back was against the wall and Jess was standing in front of her, blocking any escape. She looked up at him. His eyes were desperate, pleading. She had to look away. She looked past him, over his shoulder at the door. The little bell over it rang and it opened. She almost died. Dean entered the diner and looked around.

Jess leaned in close to her ear and whispered to her.

"It's your choice Rory, but you have to actually make a choice. Me or him. What do you really want?"

His breath was tickling her ear. She couldn't see his face, he was too close. He was pressed against her, holding her to the wall. His head was resting in the crook of her neck, lips touching the skin there. She couldn't tell, but his eyes were closed. She just kept looking over his shoulder, trying not to feel him, trying not to think.

Now Dean caught her eye. A look of fury came over him and he yelled her name. He started towards them.

"Choose," Jess repeated, voice low and serious.

Wasn't that a *great* place to leave off? Lalala… I honestly have no clue yet what I'm going to have Rory do here, so give me suggestions when you review!


	5. Ballots and Bovine

Dear lord, I broke 100! More than 100 reviews… I'm in shock. I hope you all know how much I appreciate your reviews. I really do try to combine your suggestions to please you all :) And I'm *so* sorry for the wait, but I was working a lot (I'm a supermarket cashier. Ugh) and school was insane this week. I'm applying to colleges. Bleh.

Your individual thank yous are at the end of this chapter :)

"Choose," Jess repeated, his voice low and serious.

Rory was frozen. She couldn't believe her situation. Jess was pressed against her, lips on her neck, giving her an ultimatum, and Dean was quickly approaching them, looking murderous.

Jess' voice brought her back to reality.

"Come on Rory. Just tell me what you want."

"Rory!" Dean yelled again. "What's going on?"

Rory looked at Dean's face. He was so angry. She still hadn't spoken. 

"Get off her!" Dean shouted, grabbing Jess by the shoulder and pulling him away from Rory. 

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Dean asked, shoving Jess further away.

Jess ignored Dean and looked directly at Rory, who was still standing with her back to the wall.

"I guess you made your choice," he said.

Rory looked away, still not speaking. This was too fast. She didn't get enough time to even process the question.

"What are you talking about?" Dean growled.

Suddenly Jess' entire demeanor changed. His serious look was replaced be a teasing smirk and one cocked eyebrow.

"I think that's between me and your girlfriend," Jess answered. "Funny though, there wasn't much between us a second ago. Basically just two thin layers of clothing."

He looked at Rory again adding, "By the way, your hair smells nice." He grinned at her with a glint in his eye.

"Son of a bitch," Dean said, pulling back his fist. 

He took a swing and knocked Jess on the jaw. Rory flinched but didn't move. Dean glared at Jess, waiting for him to fight back. Jess just smiled wider than before, rubbing his jaw.

"That's a nice swing you got there, bag boy. Did you get strong from lifting all those gallons of milk?"

Dean pulled back his fist and started to swing again, but someone caught his hand.

"What the hell is going on here?" Luke yelled. "Step away from each other now!"

Luke put himself between the two boys and put a hand on Dean's chest to push him back a little.

"Explain," Luke demanded.

Jess just looked disinterested and rolled his eyes, but Dean spoke up, furious.

"He was all over Rory!"

"What?!" Luke said, glancing at Rory and then glaring back at Jess.

"She doesn't seem too upset," Jess said matter-of-factly.

"Rory?" Dean said, waiting for her to say something. With all the attention on her Rory panicked. She looked at the three people staring at her and bolted, bell above the door jingling violently as she exited the diner.

"Rory!" Dean called after her.

He threw one last angry look at Jess and ran out the door after her.

Luke turned his attention back to Jess.

"You!" he barked. "Upstairs. I'll be up to talk to you in a minute."

Jess scoffed. "Give me a break."

He started to walk away when Luke put a hand on his chest and shoved him back against the counter.

"We'll talk in a minute," he repeated, seething.

Jess looked at Luke. They glared at each other for several seconds before Jess removed Luke's hand and pulled away. Jaw and fists clenched, he went upstairs.

"Rory!" Dean called out. "Rory, slow down! Talk to me!"

Rory didn't slow down. Dean ran faster and caught up with her. He passed her and turned around, putting his hands on her shoulders. Rory stopped moving and looked down at her feet.

"Hey, what's going on?" Dean asked in a desperate tone.

Rory was quiet for a second. She had obviously started to cry as she ran out of the diner.

"I think we should break up."

"What? Why?"

Rory looked up at him. 

"Because I'm not being fair to you. I'm a horrible girlfriend."

"Wait, Rory. Calm down. What are you talking about?"

Rory closed her eyes and shook her head. "I've been ignoring you and lying to you and treating you like crap."

"What are you saying? What were you lying to me about," Dean asked, grinding his teeth. He knew what she meant.

"It's just unfair to you. I shouldn't be your girlfriend unless I can be as completely devoted to you as you are to me."

Dean's eyes narrowed. "I agree."

Rory was about to continue her explanation, but at Dean's response she stopped short. "What?"

"I said I agree. It's pretty obvious that you don't care about me anymore Rory," He saw Rory starting protest continued to speak.

"You tell me you love me, but the only time you act like it is to put on a show for Jess. You're obsessed with that guy. You're always sneaking around with him, and to be honest, I was getting sick of it anyway. So just for the record, I broke up with you."

Rory blinked. "What?"

"You heard me. I'm breaking up with you."

Rory stared at Dean. "What is this, a competition? Who can break up with who first?"

"No, I just think that as the wronged party, I should be the one to do the dumping."

"So now I'm being dumped?"

"You're the one who went and listed all of the things you've been doing."

Rory looked at him angrily. "And you're the one who so eagerly added to the list! You know, it's not like you were perfect!"

"You admit to me that you've been leading me on while you have the hots for some other guy, and now you're saying that this breakup is my fault?"

"You were just always there Dean!"

"You mean, like a good boyfriend? How horrible of me!" he said sarcastically.

"I mean, you were always so protective and so… Dean, you called me ten times a day!"

"I don't have to deal with this. I'm leaving. Goodbye Rory."

He stormed away, leaving Rory in the middle of the street. She looked around, starting to feel her eyes water. She saw Miss Patty standing down the road, pulling out her call phone and dialing excitedly. 

"What the hell do you think you're doing Jess?" Luke yelled as he entered the room.

Jess looked up apathetically. "Trying to think of the perfect name for the shade of red that your face is turning."

"You were all over Rory?"

"See, just a second ago I would've said tomato, but I think you've progressed to a nice burgundy color."

"Damn it Jess, you said you'd leave her alone. What were you thinking?"

Jess let out a disgusted sigh. "Don't lecture me. God, you're such a hypocrite!"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Oh gee, I don't know," Jess began sarcastically, "'Lorelai, I don't like that you're dating.—I mean, I don't like the *guy* that you're dating!' 'Lorelai, you hair sure looks swell today.' 'Lorelai, I'm going to stand by the cash register and make kissy faces at you.'"

"You don't know what you're talking about."

"No? You have no feelings for her?"

"It's none of your business whether or not I have feelings for her."

"That wasn't a no."

"No, I do not have romantic feelings for Lorelai. We're very good friends who periodically have the urge to murder each other."

"Sure. That's why I heard you moan her name in your sleep."

"What are you doing listening to me while I sleep?" Luke said incredulously.

"There's nothing to do in this town after 10pm."

"I don't talk in my sleep."

"Hmmm, interesting," Jess said, mock-curiously. "I notice that you're denying the accusation based on the validity of the claim that you talk in your sleep instead of the claim that you would be having dirty dreams about Lorelai."

Luke became flustered. "Well I was just saying that you're obviously making this up, because—wait a minute, whatever is between me and Lorelai is none of your concern. We're here to talk about Rory."

"Listen, you don't have to worry about that anymore. She made her choice," Jess muttered.

"Oh please."

"What?"

"I'm heard this before Jess. You said you'd leave Rory and Dean alone, and judging by the fireworks downstairs, I'd say that maybe you went back on that agreement."

"I told you, she made her choice," Jess repeated angrily.

"Fine. You better be right."

"Fine!" Jess said.

He stood up and walked to the door.

"Put some ice on your chin. It's going to bruise," Luke called after him.

Jess ignored Luke and walked downstairs and then out of the diner. Luke sighed and slowly walked back into the diner.

"Back from your date?" Luke asked casually as Lorelai walked in.

"Look at this!"

"Lorelai, why do I have a cow mug in my face?" Luke asked, exasperated. 

Lorelai moved the spotted mug a few inches back from Luke's nose and tried again.

"Look at this!"

Luke grabbed the mug and looked inside, faking amazement.

"It's coffee! Good lord, what on earth is coffee doing in a coffee mug. I'll call the Enquirer."

"Not just any coffee Lucas, this coffee is special."

"Because it's in a ridiculous cow mug?"

"No, although the mug is adorable."

Luke rolled his eyes before Lorelai continued.

"After dinner Max and I went back to my place and—"

"Ten bucks to stop talking right now."

"And I taught him how to make it. He's a natural. I now have coffee perfection from the guy I'm with," she finished, beaming.

"Congratulations," Luke said without any emotion.

"*And* he said he'll fry donuts for me tomorrow morning! He's actually going to make them from scratch or dough or whatever donuts are made of!"

"Great. Fantastic. Guess you won't be needing me anymore, huh?"

Lorelai looked at him curiously. He was serious. He looked hurt.

"Hey, Luke I didn't mean it that way. You're not being replaced. Max still doesn't have the fluffy egg thing down."

Luke clenched his teeth and nodded curtly. "Sure, and I guess if he takes a culinary class, then I'll really be screwed. I get it okay, he's your coffee soul mate and I'm just that grumpy guy in the plaid who you only tolerated because you could get your caffeine fix from him."

Lorelai snorted in disbelief. "What? Are you insane? Has that baseball cap been blocking important brain functions? You're my friend. You can't be replaced."

"Whatever," Luke said, walking away. Lorelai sat at the counter for a second, nervously running her finger around the rim of the cow mug. Finally she closed her eyes and shouted.

"I lied!"

Luke stopped short. He turned around.

"What?"

Lorelai sighed and ran a hand through her hair.

"I lied, okay? This isn't Amazing Max Coffee, this is Insecure and Desperate Lorelai Coffee."

"I'm sorry, I'm not familiar with that brand. Care to elaborate?"

"Well you just made me all doubtful about Max, and I had to do something so I tried to teach him how to make good coffee. I really did, but… well taste it."

Lorelai handed Luke the mug and he took a sip.

He grimaced. "A little… what would you call that taste?"

"Not coffee?"

"Yeah, that's what I'd call it too," he said. "Lorelai, why did you feel the need to come in here and shove your cow mug in my face."

"Because I think it's pretty?"

"Lorelai."

"Okay, it's just… you were so damn smug and I hate it when you're right."

Luke felt his heart jump. "What was I right about?"

"There it is!"

"What?"

"The smug look. The evil smuggish look."

"Smuggish? Is it fun to make up words?"

"It's growing in smuggishness."

"Fine. I ask you unsmuggishly, what do you think I was right about?"

Lorelai sighed and looked away.

"Maybe Max isn't the one for me," she mumbled.

"What?"

"Maybe me and Max just aren't compatible."

Luke started to smile, but then he started to feel a little bit guilty.

"Hey, you know I was just kidding about the coffee thing. For the most part."

"I'm not basing this all on coffee. We're just very different."

"They say opposites attract."

"And if I was a bar magnet, I'd totally go with that. But I'm not, I'm Lorelai Gilmore, spaz, coffee junkie, hyperactive wisecracking mom whose daughter is more well-grounded than she is."

"And Max?"

"Is this great, stable, very non-crazy guy."

"So what are you going to do?"

"Well, first I'm going to spill this coffee out in your sink," Lorelai said, getting up.

"I'll get you a new cup."

"Thanks."

Lorelai returned a second later and saw Luke holding a new mug of coffee out to her. She took it and began to pour the coffee from Luke's mug into her cow mug.

"Is that really necessary?" Luke asked.

"Hey, I don't want Gus to feel neglected," Lorelai answered.

"Gus?"

"Rory has a matching one at home named Black. That way when we talk about them together we say 'hey, let's take out black and gus,' only the words slur together like 'black angus'"

Luke just stared at her.

"You know, black angus. Like the kind of cow. Like, as in angus beef."

"I get it," Luke said, stopping her from further explaining the mug names. "You are a very strange woman."

"Well thank you," Lorelai said sarcastically.

"I mean that in a good way," Luke said, smiling.

Lorelai smiled back and stepped closer to Luke.

"Thank you," she said. 

"Your welcome."

There was an awkward pause and then Luke inhaled deeply and pulled out his notepad. 

"Well, I guess I better start taking orders."

"Oh, uh yeah. I guess so, considering you're the order taking… guy," Lorelai stammered, taking a step back.

Luke moved past her.

"Luke," she said. He turned around. "Your coffee is much better than Max's… or my dentist's."

Luke tilted his head and smiled again at her.

"Is that so?"

"Yeah."

"Thanks."

"Your welcome."

She found him on the bridge. He was sitting there reading a thin book.

"Hey," she said, walking up to him.

"Hey."

Jess didn't look up at her. He wanted to pretend she wasn't there. Rory uncomfortably shifted on her feet, looking at Jess, waiting for him to say something. She studied him closely. He had his coat on, zipped all the way up. His eyebrows were drawn together, like he was concentrating pretty hard on his reading, only it didn't seem like his eyes were moving to scan the words. She looked at the cover of the book. 

"Othello," she said.

"Yup."

"Do you want to talk?"

"Nope."

"Do you want me to leave?"

He just shrugged.

"Hey, you're getting really good at your Luke impression. Hardly any syllables at all," Rory said, trying to get him to respond.

"What do you want?" he asked, still not shifting his gaze from the play in front of him.

"Dean and I broke up."

Jess was quiet for a second.

"Oh."

"'Oh?' That's all you have to say? 'Oh?'" 

"What am I supposed to say?"

"I don't know," Rory said, anxiously. "Maybe, 'I'm sorry to hear that?'"

Jess looked up at her like she had just grown a second head.

"Hey, I got you to look at me, didn't I?" Rory said, smiling hopefully.

"I'm glad to hear that you dumped bag boy. He was an ass."

"Actually, I think I was the dumpee."

"What?"

"There was a very confusing argument in which the dumper was unclear. Dean is the unofficial winner right now, but it's being contested. The preliminary results are coming in but Florida screwed things up again. Thousands of Floridians accidentally chose Bootsy on their ballots, throwing everything off."

"So why did you break up?" Jess said, ignoring Rory's attempt at humor.

"I told Dean that I couldn't be totally devoted to him," she said, taking a seat next to him.

Jess turned to look at Rory questioningly.

"Why is that?"

"I'm sort of into someone else."

"Bootsy?"

"Yes, Bootsy. I've had a desperate crush on him ever since his spoon banging rendition of 'Hotel California' at the Bracebridge Dinner."

Jess smiled.

"Hah, I knew I could do it! I knew you couldn't keep the frowny face forever."

Rory's smile widened and she leaned in towards Jess. She looked into his eyes and then closed her own. Their lips were almost touching. Suddenly Jess pulled away.

"I thought you chose Dean in the diner."

Rory was surprised at the sudden change. She managed to speak.

"Well that belief is also being contested, but this just in, Florida has been kicked out of the union. The votes have been tallied. You're wrong."

"Wow. The entire nation came together to declare my wrongness."

"Yup, you're just that special," Rory said with a grin.

Jess smiled back. "So you've made your updated choice then?"

"Yes."

And then he was kissing her before she even had time to blink. It took her a moment before she truly felt him. His arms were around her, hands making slow circles on her back. She brought her own hands up and ran her fingers through his hair. She had wanted to do that for so long.

"Oh my God."

They broke apart, looking at the owner of the voice.

"Mom!" Rory said.

"What's going on here?" Lorelai asked in complete shock.

"Hey, maybe I should start calling her mom too. Whadya think?" Jess asked, grinning.

A/N: I really dislike this chapter. It took me forever to write and I don't think it was as strong as the others. What's your opinion? Comments, suggestions? And don't worry, it's not going to be this easy. Rory and Jess are going to run into some trouble. 

Thank yous:

Griss: lol, thanks! I am mean, aren't I? ~!~ Artemis moonshine: Hee! Guess you'll just have to read on to see huh? ~!~ Mochacocanut: I hope this part is just as interesting :) ~!~ Christine: I know, I'm horrible ;) And thank you so much for commenting on the breakfast scene, because I was nervous about that one. ~!~ Piper: I promise not to leave you hanging ;) ~!~ Anonymousthinker: I totally agree. Great suggestion! ~!~ Wondertross: I'll absolutely give you more R/J stuff :) ~!~ Kat: Please don't track me down! I see the destiny. Be patient ;) ~!~ KikiDiki: Woo hoo! I was going for oh-so-cute :) ~!~ Jewls13: Yay! I was hoping you'd like it better :) And I agree about the regents not giving teachers freedom in their curriculum. My email addy is shan21@twcny.rr.com. Drop me a line :) ~!~ Sam: Please don't die! I thrive on your reviews! lol ~!~ Christina: AHHH! Okay! ~!~ Dodgerluv: Don't we all wish we were Rory? ;) Good suggestion btw ~!~ Christina C: I'll try to get Dean out of the picture for you soon, okay? :) ~!~ Neurotic Coffee: Thank you! And to answer your question, I'm not really sure if this is how Jess would act. I just started watching the show a month ago, but I figured if he just got fed up with Rory for using him he might. ~!~ This is sex: Interesting name ;) And is this quick enough for you? :) ~!~ Moose-girl: Thank you! I try to keep humor in, but it's so hard to write, ya know? ~!~ SlayerRyoko: Thanks for the brownies! ~!~ Sailor Grape: You rock! Your suggestions were so great! This chapter is dedicated to you! ~!~ Chickyconqueso: Oh my God you sang to me! How cool is that? And I totally know what you mean. I've read fics aloud in different voices too. That doesn't make either of us sane, but I just wanted to tell you ;) ~!~ Trace: Awww, thanks! And thanks for the suggestion too :) ~!~ Jenn: lol! I'm getting the idea that you might be an R/J fan? I promise I won't disappoint you :) ~!~ Hey: lol, thanks ~!~ Holly: I'm glad you liked the tension :) And I know what you mean about Dean. He's sweet but I'd probably choose Jess over him for the same reason—he's a bad boy ~!~ Eryikah: lol! I'm soooooo glad! ~!~ Starbelly: Rambling is good! And I like Max on the show too. He's a nice guy, but Luke is better. Plain and simple ;) ~!~ Moswen: I know I'm making it difficult ;) I just really think that Max is a great guy, and it would be unfair of me to make him seem otherwise in my fic. And if I got Jess wrong, I'm sorry. I'm not too familiar with his character. But thank you so much for reviewing! Yay for reviews! ~!~ Tanzy: Wow! One of the best, really? Thank you! And you deserved the dedication, believe me. You rock. ~!~ Night Angel: lol, I'd definitely be doing something too ;) ~!~ Dani: Thank you for the Jess comments. I hope I have his characterization down okay ~!~ Alanna Roseguard: You're right, I KNOW they belong together. Don't worry ;) ~!~ busagirl: lol! Well, you might be a little disappointed in the beginning of this chapter, but hopefully I'll redeem myself. ~!~ Niki: Yay! I love the "sounds like the show" comments. Thanks! ~!~ katem-23: Well aren't you sweet! I just know that I love it when authors respond to reviewers, so I'm doing it too. And thank you! I was going for sexy in that last chapter ;) ~!~ Madison: No worries hun. I like Dean and plan on doing him justice :) ~!~ Naveed: Ooh, thanks for commenting on that scene. It was really fun to write. Sookie rocks ;) ~!~ megan: Thank you, and you've got mail… although if you're reading this I guess you already knew that… ~!~ teea: Thank you for the encouragement :) Banter is fun to write! ~!~ And to my 5 anonymous reviewers: Thank you and get names so I can thank you personally next time!


	6. Magic and Mayhem

~!~ Lily36: Bonjour! Je parle francais, mais je suis horrible, lol. Je suis pour javajunkie, aussi. Merci! :) ~!~ Hasapi: Thanks for all the reviews! And sorry if I went overboard with the Florida stuff. I'm a political junkie and I tend to get carried away ;) ~!~ Katie: Lol, sorry your brain is fried! Glad you liked it :) ~!~ JennerBee: Glad you liked the black angus thing, I was worried that it'd be too corny :) ~!~ Mysticgrl: Thanks for the honesty. I think this chapter is a bit of an improvement. ~!~ Bess: Yay! I love it when people say that! ~!~ Jazzymocha: Hee! Read on and you'll see what she says! And sorry I took so long to update! ~!~ Naveed: Yay! I'm so happy that you liked the cute parts. Not so much of that in this chapter. Aw, who am I kidding, it's a sap-fest! ~!~ Nickelbacklover: I dream about writing for the show. I take that as the highest compliment, thank you :) ~!~ Jewls13: Lol, I *am* going to continue ;) And here it is! Glad you liked that last chapter. Your opinion means a lot :) ~!~ artemis monshine: Nope. Never easy. Easy is boring :) Thanks for putting up with me and my evil ways ~!~ Katem-23: Lol, I know! When I started this fic, I had no clue that Rory and Dean would actually split up, and then I was like, 'crap, now my breakup scene will be compared to the one on the show!' but I guess it's okay :) ~!~ Briana: Hehehe. I knew I'd offend at least one Floridian ;) Glad you liked the last line, because I wracked my brain trying to think of how to end that chapter. ~!~ Christine: Yay for loving the whole thing! And bribes are always welcome ;) ~!~ Katie: You've got mail :) ~!~ Megs: Thanks! R/J is easier for me to write than L/L stuff, but that's probably because I'm Rory's age or something. However, I don't have my very own Jess, which I think is quite unfair, don't you? ~!~ Anonymousthinker: Your suggestion was very helpful :) And the Luke/Jess stuff is so fun to write! I'm planning on more of it later. Sorry it took me so long to update though! ~!~ Moswen: What a pick-me-up! Can I keep you at my house to boost my self-esteem? Seriously, you rock! ~!~ Night Angel: So do you!!!!!!!!! ~!~ Dodgerluv: Thank you! Gotta love a review like that :) ~!~ Chickadee: Thank you! Thanks for taking the time to read all 5 chapters at once! Hope you like this one just as much as the first 5 :) ~!~ And thanks to my 2 anonymous reviewers too :)

Okay, here's a little disclaimer. I didn't know that Rory and Dean were actually going to break up on the show, or that she and Jess would get together. I already had this fic planned out in my head, so please keep in mind that the reactions and attitudes of the characters will probably differ from what happens on the show.

That being said, here it is. Sorry it took me so long! 

"What is this?" Lorelai said in complete shock.

"Mom!" Rory said again.

"Yes, that is me. I am your mother. But I forget, who's your boyfriend?"

"Mom—"

"*Dean,* Rory! Dean is your boyfriend. How can you keep doing this to him?"

"Mom, listen—"

"I mean, come on Rory. Dean is the guy who built a car for you. The guy who took you to your first school dance. The guy who's so crazy about you that he calls five zillion times a day! The guy who—"

"is my ex-boyfriend!"

Lorelai stopped short and blinked slowly.

"What?"

"Dean is also the guy who is my ex-boyfriend."

"What?" Lorelai repeated.

Jess sighed impatiently. "Maybe a diagram would help."

Lorelai and Rory chose to ignore him.

"I mean how, when, why?" Lorelai asked.

"He said 'I broke up with you,' about a half hour ago, and because I like someone else."

"Oh," Lorelai said dumbly.

"Yeah."

"So… now it's Jess?"

"Seriously, I think some flashcards would really make this easier," Jess offered.

"Jess," Rory said warningly. "Yes, Jess mom."

"Wow. That's a pretty quick rebound."

"What?"

"I mean, a half an hour after Dean you're with Jess?"

"Excuse me?"

"It just doesn't seem like you Rory. This seems like a pretty rash decision," Lorelai said.

Rory laughed angrily. "And you're the role model for cautious relationship decisions? Remember that spontaneous road trip we took last year? It's not like Dean and I were engaged, mom."

"Hey," Lorelai snapped back. "This is completely different. I am an adult. I had a lot to think about."

"Right, and you were so stable at my age? Maybe dad could help me answer that one."

"Listen Rory, we're not talking about me, okay?" Lorelai said. "We're talking about you and I'm just surprised at this sudden turn of events."

"You just have something against Jess!" Rory accused.

"Yeah, well think about it Rory, who would any mother prefer? Dean or Jess? The kid who changes the water bottle consistently or the one who smokes, drinks, and goes to school when he feels like it?"

"You know, I'm sitting right here," Jess interjected angrily.

Lorelai looked down at him.

"Don't make me push you off the bridge," she said, half serious.

"Whatever, I'm going for a walk," he answered, getting up and brushing himself off calmly.

"Wait, I'm coming with you," Rory said, glaring at her mother as she stood up to join him.

"Fine," Lorelai said. "I'll be waiting at home."

Rory didn't answer. She linked hands with Jess and the pair walked briskly away. Lorelai sighed and silently wished that she had pushed Jess off the bridge when she had the chance.

"I'm so sorry about my mom," Rory said, looking anxiously at Jess.

"Hey, it's fine. But when I come over, can you at least get her put away the various burning effigies of me? I mean, they do help me find your house, but…"

"I'll try, but she's quite attached to her little Jess voodoo doll. She gave it a mini pack of cigarettes and everything."

"Wow. Now that's really giving it her all."

They continued to walk silently for a moment.

"Hey," Rory said, holding up her hand to stop Jess.

"I really am sorry," she said.

"Like I said, it's fine."

"No it's not. My mother has no right to treat you that way. She was being—"

"She was being overprotective of her only daughter. It's understandable. I mean, you go from the Boy Scout to… well, me. Must be a big disappointment."

"Only for her," Rory said, looking up at him.

Jess gave her a little smile and put his hands on her waist, pulling her closer.

"Ready for some magic?"

"Ah, my little prestidigitator."

"Wow, big fancy word. They teach you that at your school?"

"Nah. Me and Lane were bored the other day so we took out some trivial pursuit cards."

"Ah, I see."

"Hey, guess what Ernest Hemingway novel was published after his death."

"I don't know," he said, smiling.

"Oh come on, guess a book."

"Fine. Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood."

Rory frowned.

"That wasn't a guess. That was a mockery of a guess. A mock-guess if you will."

"Hey, remember me with the magic trick?" Jess asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, but don't you want to know the answer first?"

"Just let me do my trick."

"It's killing you, isn't it?"

"No. Trick time."

"Spoil sport," Rory replied, sticking out her tongue.

"Ready?"

"Ready."

"Okay."

Slowly, Jess brought one hand back in front of him, opening it up to show her that it was empty. He then did the same with his other hand. Rory watched with a smile as he reached one hand back behind her ear.

"Please don't pull a quarter from my ear."

"How about a dime?" Jess asked, smirking.

"How about no."

"Well this is better than a dime or a quarter," He replied, pulling his hand away from Rory's ear, fist clenched tightly, concealing whatever he was holding.

"Let me see," Rory said, prying at his fingers.

"You're gonna love this one," He said back, not loosening his grip.

"Come on, open up," Rory said, giggling.

Suddenly, Jess opened his hand to reveal… nothing at all.

"Hey!" Rory said, staring at his empty palm. "You fake! You—"

But Jess cut her off with a kiss. Magic trick quickly forgotten, Rory wrapped her arms around Jess' neck and closed her eyes. As suddenly as he began the kiss however, Jess ended it, pulling away.

"Okay, it's killing me. Which book," He said in frustration.

"I don't know if I should tell you," Rory said. "You were quite rude a minute ago."

"Oh really?" Jess said. "I'm sorry, did I offend you?"

He leaned close and whispered in her ear. "What if I apologize very nicely." 

Rory smiled.

"Well, I guess I can let it slide, just this once. It's 'Islands in the Stream.'"

"Good to know," he said, moving back to her lips. They focused their attention on each other again. By the time Rory got home, Lorelai was already asleep.

"Donuts!" Lorelai shouted, running down the stairs to the kitchen.

"Made fresh, right in your own kitchen!" Max said, grinning. He was once again wearing the oversized chef's hat. Lorelai was actually growing quite fond of it. He had a pot of boiling grease on the stove and was expertly dunking his dough into it.

"There's a fresh plate of the first few in the batch over on the table. Powdered sugar is already set out for you, but I decided to hold off on the coffee making. I saw that grimace you were trying to contain last time I tried to make it."

Lorelai gave him innocent eyes.

"What grimace? That wasn't a grimace! That was the face I make when tasting a fine cup of coffee. I'm like one of those wine tasters. They always look sort of like they're in pain when they swish the wine around in their mouths."

"Uh huh, nice try Miss Gilmore. But I think I know a grimace when I see one," he said with a smile.

"Oh, caught me. Should I stay after class for some sort of punishment?"

Max rolled his eyes and laughed. "Eat your breakfast."

"Yes sir!" 

Lorelai saluted and sat down at the table, powdering her donuts. She took her first bite.

"Oh my God Max! These are great. Seriously, top notch artery clogging food!"

"Glad to hear it," he answered. "I hope Rory thinks so too."

"Speaking of Rory, any more news on that scholarship?"

"Well, actually yes. She's one of only two students left under consideration for it. It's pretty close. Could go either way."

"Whose the other kid?"

"Paris Geller."

"Oh wow. Very interesting. There could be bloodshed in the future."

As if on cue, Rory emerged from her bedroom, fully dressed and primped with her school bag on her shoulder. She walked past Lorelai without acknowledging her and approached Max.

"Hi Max. Donut please?"

"They're on the table."

Rory grabbed a donut quickly and took a bite.

"Yummy! Thanks Max," she said, smiling. "Bye!"

"You're leaving already?" Max asked.

"Yup. Going to meet someone at Luke's. I don't think mom wants to come," she answered still without looking at Lorelai. She quickly left the house.

"What was that all about?" Max asked, looking at Lorelai who now had a powdered sugar mustache.

"Ugh. Major blowout last night."

"Oh?"

"Rory and Dean broke up."

"Really?"

"Yup. And Rory is all of a sudden dating Jess," she said in disgust.

"Who's Jess?"

"You know Jess. He's Luke's nephew."

"I see. And this led to a fight between you and Rory?"

"Well let's just say that I'm not Jess' biggest fan and he's not mine."

"Gotcha."

Lorelai sighed and ran her fingers through her tangled hair, getting powdered sugar in it in the process. She growled at the sugar and grabbed a napkin to wipe off her hands. 

"Well," Max began, "I guess you really can't fault her though. I mean, she had lost interest in Dean apparently, and she shouldn't stay with someone she doesn't really care for anymore. Especially if she was starting to like someone else."

Lorelai paused, taking in these words.

"Yeah. I guess you're right."

They were both silent for a few minutes. Max finished his frying and sat down at the table with Lorelai. Suddenly Lorelai spoke.

"I don't know if this is right."

"You don't know if what's right?" Max asked, confused.

"This. Us."

"What? Where did this come from?"

"Well last night I was at the diner and I just—"

"Wait, you were at the diner?" Max interrupted.

"Yes."

"Okay, I get it."

"What?"

"Did Luke have anything to do with this thinking of yours?"

"No," Lorelai quickly answered, unconvincingly. She stared at her plate.

"Lorelai?"

"Okay, he just mentioned how we don't have that much in common and it got me thinking—"

"Hey, we have a lot of things in common! We both like… um… Rory!"

They both paused.

"Okay, so maybe we don't have that much in common, but they say opposites attract," Max said.

"Yeah, I guess. It's just… well in our fight last night Rory said that I make rash decisions when it comes to relationships and she sort of cited our engagement as an example. And I'm just worried that… I don't know… I might make the same rash decisions again and—"

"Lorelai," Max said, trying to calm her down, but she was on a roll.

"And I just couldn't live with myself if I disappointed everyone again, and… Max, why are we back together?"

"Lorelai, what?" Max asked, exasperated.

"I mean, is it because you want to try the whole engagement thing again? Is that expected now? Is this supposed to lead to marriage again?"

Max took Lorelai's hand and looked her in the eye.

"You know that I love you, and I think that you have some pretty strong feelings for me too, but I'm not trying to push you into anything. We said we'd take things slow this time, and I just want to see where things go. I'm with you because… because I really like being with you Lorelai."

Lorelai smiled.

"Okay, I'm getting sick here."

"Too sappy?" Max asked.

"No, too much powdered sugar," Lorelai answered, smile growing.

Max laughed.

"Okay, well I guess we both have to be leaving for work. Sorry about the lack of coffee."

"Hey, no problem. I don't have time to stop on the way, but Sookie will have some ready for me. Thank you for everything. You're amazing."

"Aw, I bet you say that to all your boyfriends."

"Pretty much," Lorelai said, grinning.

They both left the kitchen and grabbed their things before heading out the door. As they were getting into their cars Lorelai called out to Max.

"Hey, one more thing!"

"What?"

"Where did you get that hat? I'm thinking of getting one for myself!"

Max laughed and took the chef's hat off.

"No really!" Lorelai continued. "It's sexy! Very Pillsbury Doughboy-esque."

"Yes, and we all know what a sex symbol the pudgy cartoon spokesperson for baking goods is."

"It's that coy giggle that really makes the ladies swoon."

"Goodbye Lorelai," Max said, shaking his head.

She blew him a kiss and drove off. Max drove down the rode as well, but instead of heading towards the school, he made his way towards a certain diner.

"Save me?" Rory said, giving Jess puppy dog eyes. 

"You could always skip classes today."

Rory rolled her eyes.

"What? You did it once before to see me," Jess said smugly.

"Hey, that was different. I missed you. You had moved away and I didn't think I would have too many chances to see you."

"And now that you know I'm staying I'm not worth skipping for?"

"Sorry, you no longer justify truancy. I have to go catch my bus," she said, getting up slowly.

"Goody-goody."

"That's me. You know you love it."

Jess smiled. He leaned in and gave her a quick kiss.

"So I'll see you after school?"

"Yup."

"Good." 

He kissed her once more before handing her her book bag. Rory headed for the door, and as she pulled it open to leave, was surprised to see another figure entering.

"Max?"

"Oh, hi Rory."

"What are you doing here?"

"Just stopping for a cup of coffee."

"Oh. Well, don't be late to class," she said jokingly.

Max smiled. "I won't be."

He made his way to the counter and sat down just as Luke exited the kitchen with two plates of eggs in his hands. Not seeing Max, Luke walked right by him and set the plates down in front of a pair of customers. He returned to the counter and wiped his hands on a rag. Max cleared his through loudly. Luke looked up.

"Max?"

"Coffee please."

Luke grunted and began to fill a mug for him.

"So Lorelai and I had an interesting conversation this morning," Max said casually.

Luke glanced up at him. "Really?" he said, trying to keep his tone neutral, although inside he was cheering. Lorelai had broken up with Max. She had actually done it.

"We're still together."

Luke's heart sank.

"Good to know," Luke said stoically. 

"I just thought that might come as a surprise to you, seeing as how you gave her some strange ideas last night."

"Don't know what you're talking about," Luke said, wiping down the counter.

"I think you know exactly what I'm talking about, and I think it's really pathetic."

"Oh you do?"

"Yeah," Max said angrily. "It's sad that you have to try to sabotage all of Lorelai's relationships from behind the scenes just because you're too scared to just ask her out yourself."

"Max," Luke said in a harsh tone. "You don't know what you're talking about."

Max smiled. "Of course not. You have no interest in Lorelai whatsoever."

"Of course I have an interest in her. We're good friends. I like to see to it that she doesn't get hurt."

"Why can't you just admit it? You like her and you don't like to see her with anybody else."

Luke didn't respond.

"Well either do something about it, or leave me and Lorelai alone Luke. I mean it."

Max threw a few dollars on the counter and stood up.

"Maybe I will do something about it," Luke said to himself as he watched Max walk out the door. Maybe it was time to stop working behind the scenes and work up the courage to try to start something with Lorelai. After all, it wasn't crazy to think that she had feelings for him too. Didn't she say something about his coffee being better than Max's? Surely that was figurative language. Surely she was implying that he would be a better match for her. Surely he would kill the customers now complaining about their eggs. Damn Caesar. He really had to teach that guy how to make them fluffy. Luke sighed and walked over to the egg table to calm his belligerent customers. 


End file.
